Cabinet nod for higher ASHA visit charges, fund to create fisheries infrastructure

ASHAs, or accredited social health activists, are community health activists who are the first port of call for any health-related demands of the deprived sections of the population, especially uin rural areas.

Under the Asha Benefit Package, the facilitators are also to be enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. The Cabinet’s proposal will cost the government an additional Rs 46.95 crore, of which Rs 15.65 crore is for 2018-19 and Rs 31.30 crore will be spent in 2019-20.

It will help 41,405 ASHA facilitators across the country, it was informed.

Earlier, the government had increased the incentives of ASHA workers and the honorarium for aanganwadi workers and helpers.

The Cabinet also gave its go-ahead to establish a National Monitoring Framework on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 SDGs of the United Nations came into force on January 1, 2016 for the next 15 years. The high-level steering committee will periodically review and refine the National Indicator Framework (NIF) to monitor SDGs with associated targets.

The committee will be chaired by chief statistician of India and will include the Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), secretaries of data source ministries and NITI Aayog as members, and secretaries of other related ministries will be special invitees. It will come up with measures mainstream SDGs into ongoing national policies, programmes and strategic action plans to address the development challenges.

The government will create a Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund, as approved by the Cabinet. The estimated fund size of Rs 7,522 crore will include Rs 5,266.40 crore to be raised by the Nodal Loaning Entities, Rs 1,316.6 crore as beneficiaries’ contribution, and Rs 939.48 crore budgetary support from the Centre.

The fund will help create fisheries infrastructure facilities both in marine and inland fisheries sectors to achieve a target of 15 million tonnes by 2020 under the Blue Revolution, and to achieve a sustainable growth of 8 per cent to 9 percent

thereafter, generating employment opportunities to over 9.40 lakh people involved in fishing and related activities, according to the government.

Govt approves new rail line in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday approved a new railway line between Bahraich and Khalilabad in Uttar Pradesh. “The new line serves five districts of Uttar Pradesh including four aspirational districts — Bahraich, Balrampur, Shravasti and Siddharth Nagar and Sant Kabirnagar,” the railway ministry said in a statement after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The statement said the project work will generate direct employment for about 57.67 lakh man-days. Estimated to cost Rs 4,939.78 crore, it will be completed by 2024-25, the statement said.—ENS